WASHINGTON — Phillips Petroleum Co. and Conoco Inc. merged Friday to create the third-largest U.S. oil and gas company after receiving federal approval for the $15.1 billion deal.

        The Federal Trade Commission voted 5-0 for the deal, but required the companies to sell refineries in Utah and Colorado and certain operations in Missouri, Illinois, New Mexico, Texas and Washington.

        The companies announced in November their intention to merge and to base the new company, ConocoPhillips, in Houston.

Ball Corp. buying beverage can maker

        BROOMFIELD, Colo. — Packaging maker Ball Corp. is buying Europe's second largest beverage container maker, Germany's Schmalbach-Lubeca, for about $882.7 million in cash.

        The deal announced Friday is subject to regulatory approval but is expected to be completed late this year or early in 2003.

        Schmalbach-Lubeca, headquartered in Ratingen, Germany, operates 12 plants and expects sales about $1 billion this year.

GE exec hired as Amazon.com CFO

        SEATTLE — Thomas J. Szkutak, a General Electric Co. executive whose division is being merged in a reorganization, has been hired as chief financial officer of Amazon.com, the online retailer said Friday.

        Mr. Szkutak's talent for cost-cutting was the main reason for his selection as senior vice president and CFO, Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos said.

        Mr. Szkutak succeeds Warren C. Jenson, who announced his resignation March 5 and left Amazon this summer, spokeswoman Patty Smith said.

Global Crossing chairman investigated

        WASHINGTON — Congressional investigators are examining whether Global Crossing Ltd. chairman Gary Winnick acted to inflate the telecom's finances before selling large chunks of its stock.

        Internal e-mails, minutes of Global Crossing's board meetings and interviews with a cooperating former senior executive have raised investigators' “suspicions about possible insider trading” by Mr. Winnick and other executives, said Ken Johnson, spokesman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

        Mr. Winnick sold $734 million in stock before the company, which built a worldwide fiber-optic network, filed for bankruptcy protection in January.

Toyota raises prices on some cars, trucks

        TORRANCE, Calif. — Toyota Motor Corp. raised U.S. prices on 2003 models of two small cars and two light trucks as much as 2 percent as the world's third-largest automaker tries to take advantage of added demand.

        In the next five weeks, a base model Corolla CE rises 1.5 percent to $13,570, the lowest price for an Echo small car gains 1 percent to $10,105, Tacoma small pickup prices climb an average of 0.8 percent on all models. The 2003 Sequoia SR5 base price gains 1.2 percent to $31,625 and a Limited 4x2 model costs 2 percent more at $40,200.

        U.S.-based rivals General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler are raising prices on 2003 models. Prices climbed about 0.5 percent at Chrysler and 0.4 percent at Ford, while General Motors has said prices will have a “modest increase.”

— From wire reports

Hang on during rough ride
Greenspan defends Fed actions
Consumer spending up, income stalls
Milacron finishes sale of two overseas units
Pilots criticize United finance plan
Sex and beer a bad ad mix for Sam Adams
Business digest
Tristate summary
What's the Buzz?